Up or down....

[wegone]

Do you guys leave your levelers engaged during layup, or not?

I'm leaning toward leaving them down for more support in all corners, however if our frames are cut that close.....

Also, I noticed my slider stuck just a tad when I pulled it in this afternoon.
The wood trim that lays up against the bulb sealed seemed to stick on the backside where it meets.

I'm thinking maybe some wax or something else might be a good idea to keep from pulling on the seal, or the trimmer, when I bring it in, you guys use anything?

[chuckster57]

No real need to use the leveling legs for storage, but it won’t hurt anything. As far as the sweeper and slide seals on the slide, I like Camco seal conditioner. You need to be careful what products you use, especially on a new “covered by warranty” trailer.

[flybouy]

Agree with Chuck, I've left my stabilizers down over winter when stored on asphalt but think it's pointless on gravel. The frame withstands much greater forces while bouncing down the highway. Some will say leaving them down will give mice more opportunities to climb up to the underbelly. While that statistically is true, I've never seen a lazy rodent. From my observations they are nothing if not relentless in their pursuits and I Don't think eliminating a more convenient place to climb is a big deterrent.

I've never used anything different on the wiper seals for winter. Most seals fail from drying out and being dirty. Excessive heat or water intrusion followed by freezing accelerates the deterioration.

[dutchmensport]

On my previous 3 travel trailers (Dutchmen, Springdale, Outback), we always had the jacks down. The jacks were the hand crank scissor jacks. In fact, I have a set of 4 stationary jacks ... (Like these, click here) in addition to the ones attached to the trailer.

Ours has always been stored at home. We live in the country, have corn and bean fields behind the house and across the road from us. It is very common to have high winds blowing across the fields in forces 40-60 mph. My drive way runs East and West, and the wind blows (90% of the time) East or West. So the wind is blowing head on, or tail on into the camper. With all jacks down, the trailers have always remained rock steady.

My current Montana has the Lippert 6 point leveling system (electric) and the under frame is really tall from ground. Those portable support jacks don't reach, unless I block them up. But with all 6 jacks down, the camper is very stable. even when we get winds from the North or South.

I understand from different forums, that folks with hydraulic jacks sometimes have problems with the hydraulics retracting or slipping on their own. Usually a leak somewhere. But this is the rarity, not the rule. Even with hydraulics, jacks down affords more protection for the camper than jacks up.

In short, I keep mine down all the time. Besides, with all the jacks down, if a thief ever wanted to steal the trailer, it would be a bit more difficult with them all down than with them up. We've never had that problem, but still, if you think about it, that in itself is a good reason to keep them down. If a thief just halls off with the camper, those jacks will be dragging. And a thief isn't going to want to take the time to retract jacks (manual or electric).

[dutchmensport]

About the slide seals ... get a bottle of baby powder, shake it on a soft cloth and wipe the cloth on the slide seals. In my past, using that slide seal spray stuff, actually deteriorated my seals, softened them too much, and they stuck like glue, causing them to tear and stuck to the opposite side like glue when extracting. I'll never use that stuff again.

[wegone]

Great stuff you guys, as always.

We get pretty windy here on the island too as we are the first landfall to catch a lot of all that energy. I like that idea, less rocking and buffeting seems good to me.

I think I ran out the slide a little too hard, tighter than it needed to be, which then became like peeling open a peanut better sandwich to add a couple more dabs of butter

[travelin texans]

Originally Posted by dutchmensport

About the slide seals ... get a bottle of baby powder, shake it on a soft cloth and wipe the cloth on the slide seals. In my past, using that slide seal spray stuff, actually deteriorated my seals, softened them too much, and they stuck like glue, causing them to tear and stuck to the opposite side like glue when extracting. I'll never use that stuff again.

When I was at the factory for warranty work those techs recommended & used Pledge furniture polish, I used the dollar store imitation, on all the slide seals & recommended using it on all the seals & gaskets throughout out the rv.
Easy & less messy than baby powder. Same procedure, spray liberally on a rag & tuck the rag behind & over the the seal & wipe from top to bottom. After 6+ years the seals looked & felt new, never stuck.

[RPRoberts]

I leave my stabilizers up during winter storage because if a tire(s) go low or even flat that will put all the weight directly on that stabilizer. My trailer is stored at a storage lot so it sits months before I see it and would hate for the stabilizer to hold that weight or get bent due to a tire loosing pressure.

As Usual, many ways to look at the same question, all with valid reasoning.

[Max23]

We get super windy here as well. Matter of fact yesterday gust were 55mph plus. That is not super rare unfortunately, so my plan was to leave the stabilizers down just for added protection but never thought about tire pressure dropping, which it will in the cold, so thanks for the insight there. I will definitely be keeping a better eye on that to. Thanks.

[wegone]

DARN.....

Maybe I will just toss a bunch of straw on it, then the wolf won't bother with it because he knows the pigs are over at the guy whose trailer is all put up on bricks.....

[tacacia]

I usually just use my front jacks during the camping season when it's parked. If it's going to sit for more than say 2 weeks, I use the 6 point leveling system. It's just a preference because I feel it's more stable.

[razor 68]

I have always put my legs down when in storage. My current camper has the lippert 3.0 and I bring them down in manual mode just enough to touch the ground. Camper lots do not usually have them down but 5 points touching seems better one to me.

[foldbak]

Electric stabilizers down. Hydraulic stabilizers would (IMO) depend on the circumstances. Length of storage, ground conditions, weather, bla bla... I heard different opinions regarding slide seal maintenance but I'm with Dutch on this, baby powder.